NWFSC and Xennial, a Florida-based Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Announce Partnership
January 11, 2024
PRESS RELEASE
NWFSC and Xennial, a Florida-based Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Announce Partnership
Today, Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC) and Xennial, a Florida-based Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) company that specializes in building immersive academic and workforce training solutions, announce a formal partnership. NWFSC faculty and staff will codevelop customized VR/AR training solutions for future nurses and healthcare professionals in Northwest Florida and beyond.
“The potential of immersive or extended technology to augment workforce training programs, particularly in the health sciences, is significant,” said Dr. Devin Stephenson, President of Northwest Florida State College. “The use of Virtual Reality can create realistic and engaging simulations to expedite training, all the while improving student outcomes.”
The partnership is supported by a recent Triumph Gulf Coast grant to reinforce the college’s efforts to expand nursing training. “I am grateful for Dr. Stephenson’s leadership and vision, as well as for the College’s nursing faculty, for entering into this cutting-edge partnership with our team,” said Douglas Fajardo, CEO of Xennial. “This effort gives the college an incredible innovative and competitive advantage, as we witness the advantages of Virtual Reality in reimagining how we can scale face-to-face curriculum and training through immersive technologies.”
Bringing complex scenarios to the student in a virtual environment ahead of their in-person practicums evidences higher success rates. VR/AR training brings individual agency—an ability to learn from mistakes—in a risk-free environment. With VR/AR, students are more involved or engaged, better able to critically analyze and draw parallels between theory and practice. “Importantly, field experiences will always play an important part in the training of our students,” said Dr. Henry Mack, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “But by introducing simulated field scenarios to recreate tense or difficult patient experiences, we are able to work with students to better adjust and refine their behaviors in ways not otherwise possible.”
The first VR/AR training modules will be deployed at the start of the 2024 academic year with a full suite of nursing-related modules being developed through 2026. NWFSC will be the first state college in Florida to deploy such a robust VR/AR training experience for its students.
For more information about NWFSC, please visit NWFSC.edu or contact Henry Mack, Vice President for Academic Affairs, at hmack@nwfsc.edu. For more information about Xennial please visit Xennialdigital.com.